Port Joe Smith on FedNet
Port Joe Smith was a colony on the planet Dantana founded by a group of Mormon extremists. It was one of many unofficial "wildcat" colonies founded by a group of Mormon outside of Federation space.
History
After losing their homes in Utah, an extreme sect of Mormons fled into deep space, eventually setting on the planet Dantana despite warnings from the Federation government. The problem with Dantana, however, was that it was deep within the Arachnid Quarantine Zone. The Mormon colonists were attempting to run their colony without Federation's interference. the youth living on their colony were taught all the classes they required as part of their education, except for History and Moral Philosophy. Despite being outside of United Citizen Federation territory, the Federation placed pressure on the colony to have a History and Moral Philosphy class taught, and eventually managed to convince the Mormon colonists to allow a teacher to come and teach the subject at Port Joe Smith on Dantana.
Jean Rasczak, who taught the subject, was selected by the Federation was sent to the colony to teach it the the colonists. Despite accepting this assignment, Rasczak was not pleased at being on Dantana with the planet being so deep inside known Arachnid territory since he had previously lost his arm to a Warrior Bug during the first contact with the Arachnids on Klendathu decades before.
Much to Rasczak's surprise, the colonists all attended his classes despite their opposing views to that of the Federation. The colonists claimed that they had swept the planet before landing, however, Rasczak suspected that the Arachnids actually had thousands of dormant eggs underground that would hatch when they sensed vibrations on the surface that Port Joe Smith and other parts of the colony would create. Shortly after explaining this to a class of pupils, a Bug hole appeared underneath Port Joe Smith, causing many Warrior Bugs to swarm into the colony, killing all humans they encountered.
Rasczak attempted to contact a Dropship that was in orbit to make a pickup, however, the colonists chose to all gather inside a temple instead. This choice turned out to be a disaster as the Arachnids were able to break in and easily slaughter those trapped inside. Only Kirt Allen and the other Mormon colonist managed to escape the temple and attempted to make their way to the comm room, trying to contact the dropship in orbit. However, by the time they got there, its entrance had been destroyed, forcing Allen to lock himself in the comm room and contact the dropship. Suddenly, a Warrior Bug smashed through a window and attacked him. Fortunately, Jean Rasczak, having obtained his Morita Assault Rifle, appeared and killed the Bug. They then ran for the temple as it was the highest building at Port Joe Smith and began to climb its exterior. The dropship then appeared and they jumped onboard, nearly falling to their deaths in the rush to get onboard. Starship Troopers: Brute Creations
Other than Rasczak and Allen, no one else survived the attack on the colony. 173 civilians were killed in this incident. However, FedNet came to Dantana to film the devastation caused at Port Joe Smith shortly afterwards. The aftermath of the massacre was filmed in order to discourage further attempts at colonization within the Arachnid Quarantine Zone. Starship Troopers (1997 film)
Notes
- The footage of the Port Joe Smith was from the Whiskey Outpost.
Appearances
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